Don’t Squander Your Golden Opportunity. Part [12] 11/17/2024 (Morning thought)

1st Samuel 17: 38 And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also, he armed him with a coat of mail. 39 And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he tried to go; for he had not proved it. And David  said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

Again, when Saul finally caved in to David’s offer, he again resorted to finite modes of thought and action as it seemed the expert thing to do by loading David up with his own spear, and shield. But, the armor of Saul would not only greatly impede David, it could have put him at risk of defeat.

Thus, it was that by taking counsel of God and being willing to be led by God, David was able to maximize his golden opportunity. This is what those ten spies, together with the multitudes had failed to do. They left God entirely out of the picture, and that is how they squandered their golden opportunity.

Joshua and Caleb however tracked a different route, for they incorporated The God of heaven into their assessments and conclusions, and thus, whenever Divinity is united with humanity, individuals as well as nations, in most cases, would not squander their golden opportunity.

Proverbs 3: 4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

May The Lord add is blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

Don’t Squander Your Golden Opportunity. Part [11] 11/17/2024 (Evening thought)

Numbers 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

Numbers 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

They considered the size of the giants, in contrast to their own selves, and, in their minds, it was a no-brainer that they could not win. Be very careful of experts who do not include the God-factor in their reckonings, for they mostly deal in finite limitations, and the counsel they give could cause you to squander your golden opportunities, in some cases. That was the problem with king Saul, who seemed to have difficulty seeing beyond the finite, to behold the infinite.

When faced with danger or difficulty, he would instantly refer to the realm of mortals alone, using only finite calculations to guide his decisions. For instance, when David offered to smoke out the giant Goliath, Saul, who was an expert in war, didn’t think it possible, and based upon strictly humanistic modes of thought, he made unequivocal statements pertaining to the mission impossible.

1st Samuel 17: 32 And David said to Saul let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!